A new report by Families for Better Care shows conclusive evidence that when nursing homes hire enough staff to care for residents, inspection performance is vastly improved in Florida’s nursing homes.

As the state agency responsible for making sure nursing homes are safe, AHCA rarely issues fines even when another state agency reports neglect or mistreatment by a home’s staff, a USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA investigation found.

Certified Nursing Assistants are called the front line of the nursing industry, and that implies more than you would think: Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that nursing assistants are injured more than any other occupation – more than warehouse workers, truckers and stock clerks.

When a dozen seniors died last summer after temperatures reached 99 degrees in their powerless nursing home, Florida Gov. Rick Scott made it a priority to require such elder care centers be equipped with an on-site emergency power source, preferably built-in generators.